The present invention relates to a water-carrying household appliance having an automatic dosing system.
Modern water-carrying household appliances, in particular washing machines, increasingly use liquid treatment agents as, unlike powdered detergents, these cannot clump and it is easier to tailor their quantities to the various washing tasks. However liquid treatment agents have the drawback that they are more difficult to contain in the containers provided for them. Conventional washing machines have what are known as dispenser trays that are provided to be filled manually with powder-type treatment agents. These have a base and side walls but no rear wall so that water can enter and flush out the dispenser trays. The fresh water supply for the washing machine is generally routed by way of the dispenser trays so that powdered detergent contained therein is only flushed into the tub when the water enters. Liquid treatment agents in contrast would start to run out before this is intended and expedient. Therefore dispenser trays for the generally liquid fabric conditioner are provided with a suction lift apparatus, which only allows the fabric conditioner to be flushed in when the water enters the fabric conditioner tray.
Possible dosing systems have also already been proposed which avoid introduction into the conventional dispenser tray, e.g. dosing containers positioned directly in the drum near the laundry.
As well as solutions for manual dosing attempts have also been made in the prior art to provide automatic dosing for liquid treatment agents to avoid incorrect dosing by the user. So for example DE 80 33 429 U1 and DE 33 02 891 A1 respectively disclose a supply device for a washing machine, containing reservoirs for different treatment agent components. However this solution is disadvantageous in so far as it takes up additional space as the supply device can only be arranged adjacent to the washing machine.
A washing machine has recently been brought onto the market that can be supplied automatically with treatment agents by way of a separate reservoir for treatment agents to be positioned on the washing machine and a dosing facility arranged outside the container (see DE 100 62 111 C1). Such a separate container however also takes up space and the long hoses required are problematic as they can become blocked by viscous detergent.
Washing machines with a drawer in the lower region of the appliance are known from EP 1 884 584 A2, with space being provided for treatment agent reservoirs therein. However since space is very limited in a washing machine, this is only feasible with an additional base or a modification of the external dimensions of the appliance, which in turn has the same drawbacks as the solution with the supply device.